SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Shang-Chi is the latest addition to the already robust roster of Marvel Comics superheroes! With a superb eerie-stirred narration that kicks off the feature, it demonstrates how terrifying the ten rings are under the hands of one villain named The Mandarin (Tony Leung)! Unexpectedly, our protagonist Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) is his son and the story is essentially a family drama which ultimately has to, expectedly, resolve in both these characters butting heads!
By far the strongest aspect of this motion picture is the action sequences! My God, what a true blue blockbuster quality it's in! Camera navigation that syncs in harmony with the action choreography here is the ultimate WOW! Macau tower struggle as Shang-Chi rescues Katy (Awkwafina), pendant chase fight, combat tournament between Shang-Chi and his sister even though it comes out of nowhere and Wong (Benedict Wong) versus Abomination (voiced by Eli Roth) are absolute bonkers! The craziest of all is the first major stunt taking place in a metro bus which alone is worth more than the price of admission! The way the team has used the Ten Rings creatively is a huge kudos, and the one-to-one training session with Michelle Yeoh is a delight!
Getting into the flaws category, there's forced humor even at the most inappropriate moments; a commonly known aspect of most if not all Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Some of the expositions are obvious, but the biggest setback is the way the plot stumbles with a new goal bolted in at midpoint surrounding The Mandarin attempting to look for his long deceased wife. Protagonist's team meeting the actor Mandarin aka Trevor (Ben Kingsley) with a mythical beast Morris (voiced by Dee Baker) to translate whatever happens next at the most convenient time to make their escape struggleless is off-putting. And completely out of left field, the major antagonist of the film becomes an evil dragon. While the visual effects and action are nice, this abrupt element we were only teased as a passing cloud being served as the main course meal at the end just doesn't tie well coherently with nor does it satisfy the emotional core of the story. The highest point should have been the battle between Shang-Chi and his father, which is glorious definitely for how many seconds it's there.
The fact that a good portion of the narration is in the Mandarin language is truly appreciated. Chemistry between Simu Liu and Awkwafina is good. While the production design and choice of soundtracks are absolutely amazing, the visual effects at many parts appear unfinished. There are a few truly impressive ones namely the water map, Abomination and Morris of course. Unique creatures of all sorts and the emerald green bamboo forest maze prior to Ta Lo village's entrance are fantastic too!